THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's soccer team will be home for its next two games, as the Wildcats host rival Roberts Wesleyan College in an East Coast Conference game Saturday (Oct. 11) and then entertain Mansfield University in a non-league game Tuesday (Oct. 14)…both games take place at Dimp Wagner Stadium.

Saturday, Oct. 11
Roberts Wesleyan at Daemen - 12:30 p.m.
Dimp Wagner Stadium - Amherst, N.Y.
LIVE STATS

Tuesday, Oct. 14
Mansfield at Daemen - 7:30 p.m.
Dimp Wagner Stadium - Amherst, N.Y.
LIVE STATS


THE COACHES: Dan Dolan enters his sixth season as head coach at Daemen. The 2011 American Mideast Conference (AMC) Coach of the Year, Dolan has led the Wildcats to four consecutive non-losing seasons and owns a career record of 57-44-3 (.563). He guided Daemen to the 2012 United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national championship and a runner-up showing at the USCAA Championship Tournament last year. Bobby McColl is in his first season as head coach at Roberts Wesleyan. Tim Dempsey is in his 13th season as head coach at Mansfield…he previously served as head coach at Green Mountain College in Vermont.

MOVE TO II: Daemen is in Candidacy Year Three of the NCAA Division II membership process. Daemen has been accepted as a member of the East Coast Conference (ECC) and began playing full regular-season conference schedules last fall. The College will also maintain its affiliation with the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) for postseason opportunities, as it will not be eligible for the ECC or NCAA postseason during Candidacy Year Three.

THE SERIES vs. RWC: Daemen and RWC are former American Mideast Conference rivals...Daemen owns a slim 3-2-2 advantage in the previous seven meetings…RWC posted a 4-0 victory over the Wildcats last year in Rochester…Brittany Foster scored twice for the Redhawks, while Marissa Sell made seven saves to earn the shutout…Kathryn Haessner made six saves for Daemen…the Wildcats posted a 1-0 victory over the Redhawks two years ago at RWC...Alexa Amato scored the lone goal just 2:16 into the contest and Kayla Hampton stopped nine shots to earn the shutout...Breanna Maggio made six saves for RWC...the teams met three times during the 2011 season...Daemen posted two regular-season wins (1-0, 4-3 2OT), before the Redhawks posted a 2-1 victory in the semifinals of the AMC Tournament.

THE SERIES vs. MANSFIELD: Daemen and Mansfield will meet for just the second time ever, and the first time since 2004…the Mountaineers posted a 2-0 victory over Daemen back in 2004 at Mansfield.

THE WILDCATS (3-7-1; 0-3-1 ECC): Daemen returns 14 players (8 starters) from last year's team that finished 10-10-0 overall and 1-8-0 in the competitive East Coast Conference…the Wildcats advanced to the championship game of the USCAA Tournament for the second-straight year, but a 3-2 OT loss to top-seeded Maine-Fort Kent denied Daemen its second-straight USCAA national championship…Daemen was voted ninth in the ECC preseason poll…graduation took its toll up front, with the loss of forwards Kacey Bougard (13 gls, 7 asts) and Samantha Engel (11 gls, 8 asts) who both collected first team USCAA All-America honors…USCAA All-American defenders Meghan Diehl and Meghan Lipinoga return, as does three-year starter Rachael Banasik…goaltender Kathryn Haessner, who started 13 games and posted a 1.56 GAA with two shutouts last year, also returns to the fold…newcomers Rose Carboni (back), Alex Juliano (forward), Alexis Ruggiero (midfield) and Stephanie Zurales (forward) have all made an immediate impact…the Wildcats opened the 2014 season with wins over Rio Grande (2-1 OT) and Maine-Fort Kent (2-0), before suffering through a seven-game losing streak…Daemen suffered a 2-0 loss to nationally-ranked Mercy College last Friday, before snapping the losing skid following a 1-1 (2 OT) tie with St. Thomas Aquinas on Sunday…Daemen rallied for a 3-2 non-league win over Medaille College this past Tuesday…Lindsay Stoddard and Emily Ward scored their first career goals in the win over Rio Grande, while Carboni and Juliano did the same in the win over UMFK…Stoddard and Banasik scored in 3-2 loss to Mercyhurst, while sophomore Cassidy Kozub netted DC's lone goal in the tie with STAC and netted the game-winner in the win over Medaille…Haessner has started all 11 games (1.56 GAA)…she established a season-high for saves (9) in the loss to Mercy and equaled the mark in the tie with STAC.

THE REDHAWKS (5-6-0; 1-3-0 ECC): Roberts Wesleyan was picked fourth in the ECC preseason poll...the Redhawks return three of the top four scorers from last year's team that posted a 11-5-2 record (6-3-0 ECC)...RWC won three of its first four games, but the Redhawks are just 2-5-0 over their last seven games…RWC snapped a four-game losing streak following a 1-0 win over Lock Haven on Sept. 30…RWC split a pair of ECC games last weekend, defeating St. Thomas Aquinas (4-0) and losing to nationally-ranked Mercy (4-3)…sophomore midfielder Bella Mitrevski has played in just five games this season, but has still managed to lead the team in goals (6), assists (4) and points (16)…she totaled three goals and two assists in a 7-3 win over Nyack…additional production has come from juniors Ellie Swan (4 gls, 1 ast) and Heaven Palamitia (3 gls, 3 asts)…senior goalkeeper Marissa Sell (1.65 GAA, 2 SO) has started all 11 games and made a season-high 12 saves in a 1-0 loss to Saint Anselm.

THE MOUNTAINEERS (2-8-1; 2-8-1 PSAC): Mansfield is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, an 18-member NCAA Division II conference…the Mountaineers were ranked 15th the PSAC preseason poll…MU posted a 5-11-1 overall record and a 4-11-1 mark in the PSAC last fall…the Mountaineers return four of the top five scorers from last year…sophomore midfielder Danielle Lentz returns after totaling a team-high four goals last year…the Mountaineers opened the 2014 season with a four-game losing streak, before posting a 1-0 (OT) win over Shippensburg on Sept. 16…MU also posted a 3-1 victory over Pitt-Johnstown on Sept. 24, but take a four game unbeaten streak (0-3-1) into the weekend…the Mountaineers host Bloomsburg in a PSAC game Saturday (Oct. 11), before traveling to Daemen Tuesday…seven different players have scored this season…freshman Brielle Filtch netted her team-leading second goal of the year during a 2-2 (2 OT) tie with Lock Haven this past Wednesday…Lentz scored in the win over Pitt-Johnstown, while Sarah Pierce and Colleen Dempsey scored in a recent 3-2 loss to Seton Hill…junior Alana Greenawait has started 10 games in net and owns a 1.97 GAA…she made seven saves in the win over Shippensburg.

WEAR PINK: Saturday's game also represents Daemen's "Wear Pink" game to help raise awareness for breast cancer research in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Voluntary donations for Roswell Park Cancer Institute will be accepted at the game.

DID YOU KNOW?: DC's recent 3-2 loss at Mercyhurst marked just the fourth time since the start of the 2010 season that the Wildcats have lost a game when scoring two or more goals…Daemen is 42-4-1 since the start of the 2010 season when it scores two or more goals…the Wildcats had won 15-straight games in which they scored two or more goals before suffering a 3-2 OT loss to Maine-Fort Kent in last year's USCAA Tournament championship game.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats travel to Queens College (Oct. 17) and Molloy College (Oct. 19) for ECC games next weekend. Click HERE to view Daemen's complete 2014 schedule..

FOLLOW THE WILDCATS: Follow Daemen College women's soccer on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics or www.facebook.com/daemencollegewomenssoccer) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.